Acid and LC bath or what?

[BlueDevil]

Well, I guess I know what I'm doing this weekend. I just haven't d codes for sure on the LC.

I would caution you against skipping the LC bath. It is quite critical IMHO. Especially since you are dealing with rock that have been in a tank at one point. Both Chris and I started with dry rock so we could somewhat afford to skip the LC bath. Chris did let his rock sit for a long time in water which in essence cured it. If you are expecting to do a quick turnaround you should definitely do the LC bath. It is very easy. At the very least let the rock sit in some water for a week and at the end of the week test the water for PO4 to see what kind of reading you get.

 

[jmann124]

I would caution you against skipping the LC bath. It is quite critical IMHO. Especially since you are dealing with rock that have been in a tank at one point. Both Chris and I started with dry rock so we could somewhat afford to skip the LC bath. Chris did let his rock sit for a long time in water which in essence cured it. If you are expecting to do a quick turnaround you should definitely do the LC bath. It's very easy. At the very least let the rock sit in some water for a week and at the end of the week test the water for PO4 to see what kind of reading you get.

I don't know the exact timeframe that the rock will be able to sit during the build so I may do a somewhat abbreviated LC bath then let it sit the remaining time in water that I change weekly during the build.

 

[KJAG]

There are varying proportions of the mixture that you can use. I used a 10:1 ratio for dry BRS Reef Saver rock and the process was pretty much complete within 20 mins. Just a heads up - if you want to stop the chemical reaction at any point, just dump some baking soda in it. It will neutralize the acid and bring the reaction to an end, at which time you can safely empty out the Brute and rinse the rocks.

One thing to keep in mind is that the more dead stuff you have on the rock, the more the mixture will foam, and the nastier color it will get. Make sure to use a large enough container to leave enough room for the foam to rise. For large quantities of rock, you will likely have to do it in batches.

LOL.. Yeah.
I adhered to the 10:1 ratio and had probably 2o boxes of baking soda on hand. I wont be making any amendments to my original statement/warning to the OP within this thread.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

if your really concerned about using the acid and have time to wait, powerwash the rock, then use peroxide to clean off and oxidize the organics.. start curing it in saltwater and test the Po4. after 24 hrs in the water you'll be able to actually read how much Po4 is bound to the rock. you can then use gfo in a reactor or canister. Or if its high LC, but remember you need to trap the Po that comes off the rock when doing so. the canister or reactor will do that too.